Keeper-plate for locks and latches.



PATENTED SEPT. 13, 1904.

B. PHELPS. KEEPER PLATE FOR LOOKS AND LATGHES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 26, 1904.

NO MODELv l I m 4 M 14 0 on c a when the door is shut.

UNITED STATES Patented September 13, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

KEEPER-PL ATE FOR LOCKS AND LATCHES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 769,770, dated September 13, 1904,

I Application filed January 26, 1904. Serial No. 190,642. (N0 model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, BYRON PHELPS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King, State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Keeper-Plates for Locks and Latches, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to keeper-plates for use in connection with door locks and latches.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple device to take up any loose play due to shrinking of doors or door-casings to prevent the rattling thereof.

The device is made adjustable, so that should the woodwork shrink to such a degree that a door which properly fitted at the outset will become so loose as to rattle this looseness may be readily taken up and said rattling stopped.

In the drawings,Figure 1 is an elevation of my improved device, showing the same inserted in a portion of a door jamb or casing, the strike-plate being shown in a slightlyextended position. Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same unattached. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the plane of the line3. 3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section on the plane of the'line 4 4, Fig. 2. y

In the preferred form of my invention shown in the accompanying drawings the adjustability of the parts is effected in the following manner:

1 is the outer plate. the rear thereof.

3 is what is termed the strike-plate or keeper member, in that it is this plate which is encountered by the latch when the door is closing and by which the latch is held The strike-plate 3 is carried by the plate 2 and is slidable relatively to plate 1.

In the particular form shown the plate 2 has horizontal slots 4 4 formed therein, and in said slots are located studs 5, carried by the plate 1, the heads of said studs lying flush with the back of the plate 2. By means of the studs 5 the plates 1 2 are held against accidental disengagement; but the said plate 2 may be shifted horizontally on plate 1. This shifting of the plate 2 of course shifts the 2 is a plate located at strike-plate 3. If desired, the plate 2 may have extensions 6 6, the ends of which may hold the bottom plate 7 to form a box or pocket for the door-latch (not shown) when the door is closed.

8 8 are screws such as ordinarily employed in holding keeper-plates in place; but these screws in addition to performing the function of holding the keeper-plate in place may also perform the function of clamping the two plates at any desired adjustment. The screws 8 8 pass through the usual holes in the faceplate 1 and through slots in the under plate 2, corresponding to the slots 4 4, so as to allow of the adjustment of the plate 2 and strikeplate 3.

When the keeper is applied to a door jamb or casing, the usual mortise is made to receive the same, excepting that the mortise should be deeper than usual and of a suflicient size to receive the various parts constituting my invention, whatever form it may take. This keeper-plate is usually adjusted at the outset with the strike-plate in an advanced positionfor example, as shown in Fig. 1. When the screws 8 8 are inserted and drawn down tight, the plates 1 2 are clamped together and the strike-plate 3 held against accidental disengagement, the position of the same being such as to bear against the abrupt face of the latch when the door is closed without allowing such loose play as will permit of a disagreeable rattling. Should the door or door-casing shrink in time and the engagement between the rear edge of the striker-plate and the latch become so loose as to permit rattling, all that the user need do is to loosen the screws 8 8 and push the strike-plate back until the unnecessary looseness is taken up, whereupon the setting down of the screws 8 8 will again clamp the parts firmly in their fixed and proper position.

While I have referred to the plate 3 as a strike-plate, it is obviously the keeper member, since it is against this particular plate that the latch engages when the door is shut and by means of which the door is held shut.

I have shown and described only the preferred form of my invention. It is obvious that the same may be modified without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, the main purpose being to provide an adjustable striker-plate which performs the function of holding the latch in such a position as to prevent undue looseness and rattling. It should be understood that this keeper or strike-plate is applicable to any type of lock, whether it engages with the latch-bolt or the lockingbolt, and whatever may be the form of said latch or look bolt.

What I claim is 1. In a device of the character described, a main outside plate, a keeper member, a second plate connected with said keeper member and lying to the rear of the first-mentioned plate, perforations in the first-mentioned plate to receive screws, horizontal slots in the underlying plate registering with said perforations, and screws passing through both of said plates and arranged to hold the main plate in place and clamp the underlying plate between it and the door-casing whereby the keeper member may be held in various positions of adjustment.

2. In a device of the character described, a main plate, an underlying plate carried thereby and slidably mounted thereon, a keeper member carried by said underlying plate, a box-like pocket carried by said underlying plate, said keeper member forming the forward boundary of said pocket, all arranged 22d day of January, 1904:,

BYRON PHELPS.

Witnesses:

Gr. E.v Roo'r, L. M. BRAMAN. 

